More Sleep for Students

Students need more sleep to accomplish their daily tasks, and getting less sleep now could hurt them in the long run.

Dear Future President,

Education for children is one of the most important things for our country. Students need 8-9 hours of sleep to function properly during school, but most students only get up to 7 hours. It also will help with the issue of high school car crashes because they will be less tired. If school started even just 30 minutes earlier, grades should improve and car crashes would be reduced by 13%. I guarantee that you will see an improvement on grades, health issues, and even injuries caused by high school students.

Teens need an average of 8 ½ to 9 ½ hours of sleep, yet 2/3 of high school students get less than 7 hours of sleep. 33% of teens report falling asleep in class, according to startschoollater.com. You might be thinking that they can just go to sleep earlier, but in reality students have sports, jobs, or homework that they have to attend to. It’s more likely for kids to get up later than go to sleep earlier, which can in turn make a student tardy for school.

Many sources, including CDC.gov, has found that insufficient sleep in teens is associated with obesity, migraines, and illness. Imagine the wonders that pushing back school an hour later could work. This would help with America’s weight problem and save children from illness and headaches. Reduced illness will also keep students in school more and keep them from missing days.

Keeping school at the times it is right now could help ruin a student’s future. If a student can’t function properly and they go to take a test, such as the SAT, and they do poorly on it because of loss of sleep, that could ruin a student’s future. Students absolutely need a good night’s sleep to work to their full potential in school. Do you really want students to fail in school because they’re too tired to concentrate?

So can’t you see Mr. /Mrs. President that pushing school back even just a half hour can help students drastically? It could save many lives due to less car crashes, it will improve test scores and help students work to their full potential, which can help their futures, and will reduce the risk of students being obese, having migraines and/or illnesses. We need much more sleep than we get already, can’t you just give us another hour and push school back a bit? Even a half hour would show improvement.

#2nextprez

Letters to the Next President 2.0 engaged and connected young people, aged 13-18, as they researched, wrote, and made media to voice their opinions on issues that mattered to them in the 2016 Presidential Election.

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